#M1

If you’ve been shooting any sort of competition in the United States, then you are probably familiar with the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) and their infamous NRA High Power and Service Rifle competitions held in Camp Perry, Ohio. These competitions are probably the most significant and longest running high caliber competitions in the United States. Because they are based around the US Military’s service rifles, shooters use civilian legal M1 Garands, M14s, and M16s. These are fine rifles in their own right and entire industries have been set up to equip shooters and make them ready for a Service Rifle match. But venturing out in the firearms world and building a match grade M1 Garand or M14 can be costly. This is where the CMP makes a huge difference.

Since August the Royal Malaysian Police have been running  ‘Ops Cantas’ (Operation Cutover), a nationwide crackdown on organized crime specifically targeting illegally acquired and manufactured firearms. This operation has included many road block around the country and raids by the Rapid Action Unit SWAT team. Last Thursday the police raided a house occupied by two men who were suspected gangsters. Among the cache of firearms they captured, which included three Colt carbines and a number of AKs, was a M1 Carbine with an interesting stock which looks better suited for a competition target .22 and out of place on an old battered M1 Carbine in the jungle.

Daniel Gallington, of the Potomac Institute, has published an article in the Cypress Times on the ownership of the controversial Korean M1 Garands and M1 Carbines that Korea is trying to sell back to US collectors. From the article …

The Koreans have been trying to sell back M1 Garand’s that were lent to them around the time of the Korean war but the US Government has blocked the importation. For more detailed information check out SayUncle who has blogged about it.

For the last fifty years 100,000′s of M1 Garands and M1 Carbines have been sitting in Korean warehouses, many of which will now be sold to US collectors. AFP reports:

The T26, otherwise known as the “Tanker” Garand, was an experiential 18″ barreled carbine version of the M1 Garand. It was designed late in WWII for use in the Pacific jungles. Tom emailed me photos of his new T26-style M1.

The Italian army adopted the Beretta BM59, basically an M1 Garand chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO capable of select fire. It was about as successful as all the other select fire battle rifles adopted around the world (not very). From Wikipedia:

The M1028 is a 120mm shotgun shell for the M1 tank. The shell holds 1100 10mm tungsten balls. They are apparently lethal up to 700m (765 yards). Here is a video of the shell being fired in slow motion. It shows the shot breaking the sound barrier and the shot pattern (H/T to Sebastian).

Auto-Ordnance has a new “Tactical Folding Stock Model” M1 Carbine out later this year.

A Soldier displays an M-1 rifle discovered in a suspected insurgent’s home

Apparently the Israeli ‘Civil Guard’ and licensed tour guide operators on tour still use the M1 Carbine!

I came across these photos by bcr308 @ RFC. I think the stock makes it kind of look like an M1 Carbine…? Maybe its my imagination!